Kalamazoo Loy Norrix High School students 'mix it up' during lunch hour

Jill McLane Baker | Kalamazoo Gazette At Loy Norrix High School Thursday, freshmen Valerie Filipowicz, 14, right, performs a 'secret handshake' with Jess Moshoginis, 15, as Jessica Isidoro,14, left, and Matthew Streitel, 14, look on. Nearly 400 freshmen at Loy Norrix in Mix It Up at Lunch Day as part of a national initiative to get students to socialize with students they might otherwise ignore to break down social barriers.

KALAMAZOO -- Athletes hung out with those who couldn't make the team. The popular kids spent some time with students who have a hard time fitting in.

Nearly 400 freshmen at Loy Norrix High School participated Thursday in Mix It Up at Lunch Day as part of a national initiative to get students to socialize with students they might otherwise ignore.

The students' lessons were a little different. There were secret handshakes and passwords, the acceptance of new friends, and an experience the ninth-graders had not felt before. Communication and understanding were the aims.

"We have a very diverse mix of students. But they tend to stick to their own groups, and this keeps them from having a full grasp of what their peers are experiencing," said Megan Burnley, an English teacher at Loy Norrix who spearheaded the school's participation in the event.

"Maybe the next time a kid they don't know asks them for a pencil, they'll give it to them. Maybe they'll be nicer to a kid who's different than they are."

Burnley and other organizers of Mix it Up at Lunch Day went one step further than most schools taking part in the national program.

"We're doing more than having kids sit together at lunch," she said, minutes before breaking students into four groups in her classroom and going through a series of socialization exercises. "Having lunch together is a good idea, and we're doing that, but we thought we'd add activities before the lunch to further the experience."

In many ways, Burnley's classroom -- one of several throughout the school filled with new friendships -- looked to be a typical place of learning. Books such as "Forgotten Fire," "Under the Grammar Hammer," and "Copper Sun" filled the shelves.
But the students' groupings were altogether different.

"I thought it was a great thing to do," said Will Clarke, carrying a plate of pizza and macaroni and cheese during the lunch portion of the event. "I met someone I had never seen before in my life, and he was cool

"This is something that every high school should do. I didn't really know what we were doing at first, but I really liked it once we got going."

And this wasn't just the pizza talking. Valerie Filipowicz, another who mixed it up, talked about the program before stocking her plate.

"It was a fun way to be part of a group of people you didn't know before," she said. "Everyone has their own cliques, that's just the way it is. This showed me it doesn't have to be that way."

The fact that it was the freshmen who were chosen to participate was not happenstance. Loy Norrix staffers understand the need to stress socialization as students begin the high school experience.

"It's important to catch them early," said principal Johnny Edwards. "It gives kids a chance to break into small groups, to talk, discuss things in a nice, light, positive setting.

"It's a great program, and we're so glad Megan Burnley pushed for our participation."